Darkness and Light: Throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, there is a tension between light and darkness. Baldwin uses darkness to describe the adversity that the characters go through.
“All [the youth] really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness…” (Baldwin 1)
Baldwin uses darkness to convey the suffering that the youth in Harlem are fated to go through. Although they are not suffering yet, the seeds of their future have already been sown, and the darkness of their lives is already closing in on them.
“And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens he's moved just a little closer to that darkness outside. The darkness outside is what the old folks have been talking about. It's what they've come from. It's what they endure. The child knows that they won't talk any more because if he knows too much about what's happened to them, he'll know too much too soon, about what's going to happen to him.” (Baldwin 9)
Similarly to the previous quote, Baldwin uses darkness to describe the suffering that the children in Harlem are fated to go through. The children have seen the darkness that the adults have endured, and they feel worried about the suffering that they will have to endure.
“[Your father] says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away. Weren't nothing, weren't nobody on that road, just your Daddy and his brother and that busted guitar.” (Baldwin 10)
Baldwin uses darkness to reveal the depth of suffering that Baldwin’s father must have gone through after he witnessed the death of his brother, as he says that “he had never seen anything as dark as that road.” Baldwin uses acknowledges that suffering is constant and deep.
Overall, Baldwin uses darkness in “Sonny’s Blues” to convey the profusion and depth of suffering. In contrast, Baldwin uses light to describe hope and salvation, in opposition to the darkness.
“[The band] horsed around, standing just below the bandstand. The light from the bandstand spilled just a little short of them and watching them laughing and gesturing and moving about, I had the feeling that they… were being most careful not to step into that circle of light; if they moved into the light too suddenly, they would perish in flame” (Baldwin 23)
Baldwin uses light to represent that although hope is present, it is still scarce, “just a little short of them.” The band members are skeptical of light, and if they moved into the light too quickly “they would perish in flame.” Baldwin also mentions the light while showing the characters experiencing happiness.
“For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.” (Baldwin 24)
Baldwin propounds that light can be discovered, or reached, through self-expression. Again, light is mentioned in the context of hope or happiness.
In conclusion, darkness and light are in constant tension throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, and they represent the prevalence and extent of suffering and the existence of salvation and hope, respectively.
The Cup of Trembling: The Cup of Trembling is mentioned at the end of the story, when Sonny is performing; the cup symbol is borrowed from the Bible. Sonny’s drinking from the cup of trembling serves as a reminder of the suffering he has endured, but also offers him a chance for redemption and salvation. As a musician, Sonny takes all his suffering and that of those around him and transforms it into something beautiful; his suffering is almost a consequence of him being a musician. It’s a final recognition of the tension of light and darkness, and how in the presence of suffering, there is still room for salvation and redemption. “He didn't seem to notice it, but just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded. Then he put it back on top of the piano. For me, then, as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother's head like the very cup of trembling.” (Page 25)
Housing Projects: The housing projects represent the oppression that African Americans in Harlem faced. Although they are built with good intentions, they are inevitably transformed into what the builders were trying to fix, and there is no attempt to correct such transformation. It sort of becomes a “parody of good.” It’s a representation of the ever-present societal oppression that African Americans in Harlem faced. “These streets hadn't changed, though housing projects jutted up out of them now like rocks in the middle of a boiling sea. Most of the houses in which we had grown up had vanished… ut houses exactly like the houses of our past yet dominated the landscape, boys exactly like the boys we once had been found themselves smothering in these houses, came down into the streets for light and air and found themselves encircled by disaster. Some escaped the trap, most didn't. Those who got out always left something of themselves behind” (Page 7)
